MUFFIN FAIL

This is the reason why timers are very important. This was my attempt at Dulce de Leche muffins, which I tried to make at work, when I got distracted. The recipe would have probably turned out great if it weren't for my neglect. I work at a cafe so we have a ton of Torani flavor shots. I used caramel, vanilla, french vanilla, english toffee, and some cane sugar for these. Maybe I'll try them again soon. For now, I have a great picture to demonstrate my abilities as a cook :P

Bon appetite! (or not. Those look pretty awful)

Orange Ginger Stir fry

This is a great vegetarian meal! Even though I am not a vegetarian, and never could be, I do like to make explicitly veggie meals some nights, and this was definitely one of them. Even though the recipe was pretty specific about ingredients, I decided to get a little creative and do my own version. I don't know why I'm so bummed to say this, but the dish went really well. I was hoping for some funny story about how I added a wrong ingredient or spilled molten hot ginger sauce on my leg (not that funny, actually) but this really went off without a hitch.


Another great thing? It took about twenty minutes to make, tops, and for someone who usually needs to eat on the run or just very quickly, it's nice to be able to toss some stuff into a pan and let everything else just happen.

Here's the recipe. I'm sure it's absolutely delicious but I'll let you know what I put in mine :)




Pretty much, mine had the mushrooms, broccoli, and the snap peas. I had no clue what snap peas were before this recipe, but now I'm glad I do because they're really delicious!

I added spinach, tomato, and basil into mine, all straight from my mom's garden. The mushrooms definitely tasted the best though, and I'm glad I've started to incorporate them more into my cooking. I think that I had a bias against mushrooms since I was a child and read that book Babar the Elephant and the king elephant died after eating a poisonous mushroom.



If I were to make this again (and let's be honest, I probably will) I would add some kind of rice or pasta to the mix and probably not make as much sauce. It was a little drowned. Other than that, great recipe, and a great, easy meal!

RISOTTO (finally!)

Hey all,
Sorry it's taken me a little time to put my results up. It's been a crazy week, and after the epic adventure that was my sun-dried tomato risotto, I needed some rest. Just kidding. But no, really, it was an exhausting process. I want to say that I might have shot a little high for my first attempt, but I guess now there's really nowhere to go but up.

I wouldn't exactly call the risotto a success, but I also would not stoop to say it was a failure, either. After almost forty-five minutes of standing over the stove murmuring creative swear words and occasionally stirring the rice, my friend and I grew frustrated and declared that we didn't think the rice was ever going to cook all the way so everyone was just going to have to be content with hardish rice. Well, let me just say that no one was exactly pleased with this decision. I sulked for a little bit, feeling like I should have produced something perfect and amazing, especially after the buildup of promising to make dinner for everyone. Finally, we put everything together on the table, and I have to say, even though the rice was hard, everything looked absolutely delicious.

Despite the hardness, everything tasted great. There was a nice mix of flavor in the risotto, with no one flavor absolutely overpowering the other. Things I would recommend for myself for next time would be to buy the right kind of rice, although my friend tried the recipe with the correct rice and didn't enjoy it at all, but she also thinks that she didn't get strong enough vegetable broth. So as for now, I will consider this a success, and until next time, I will think of ways to get better.

Bon appetite! :)